Home For Christmas
by DinerGuy
Summary: 2018 reboot. Higgins steps in to help out at La Mariana and, with a little help from a friend, finds herself realising just what Christmas means to her this year. Featuring proud boys and a previously undiscovered talent.


_A/N: Peter Lenkov posted some stories on Instagram tonight, and it reminded me that I wrote this fic last month and never posted it. And so, here you are. Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you all!_

_Standard disclaimers apply._

* * *

"I still can't believe you're friends with _the_ Ed Wells," Rick said, shaking his head as he passed Higgins a glass across the table. "Of all people!"

She chuckled. "Just a happy coincidence is all; we grew up together and kept in touch over the years. He knows I'm living out here now and reached out to let me know he'd be on the island and see if I wanted to catch up."

"And then you just _happened _to convince him to play a set at La Mariana." Rick still looked incredulously happy. "I mean… of all the old acquaintances you could've reconnected with, it just happened to be the lead guitarist of the band that just played to a sold-out crowd last week!"

Smiling graciously, Higgins shrugged as she took a sip of her drink. "What else are friends for? Ed's a lovely chap, and he mentioned his band had a few days off before leaving for their next gig, so I figured it couldn't hurt to ask."

Before Rick could respond, Magnum and T.C. came over to join them. T.C. looked almost as happy as Rick while Magnum mostly just looked amused at his friends.

"So what's going on tonight?" Magnum winked at Higgins as he slid into the seat next to her. "I hear it's kind of a big deal?"

"Oh, it's a big deal all right," Rick's eyes were still alight with excitement. "Jules knows Ed Wells! And convinced him to get his band to play _here!"_

Magnum laughed and shook his head. "So T.C. tells me."

"This is _big_ for La Mariana!" Rick continued bubbling. "Huge!"

As Rick started filling T.C. in on the last-minute social media advertising he'd been trying to do, Higgins glanced over at where the band was warming up. They'd said hello when they'd arrived but then jumped right into preparations for their show, and she and the others had left them to it. But now, Ed looked up and caught her eye, gesturing her over to the stage area.

Higgins nodded in acknowledgement, then turned and excused herself from the conversation at the table. She hurried over to join Ed, who gave her a smile as she approached.

"Juliet!" her friend greeted her. "Hey, I have a favour to ask you."

She returned the smile. Ed had done her a pretty big favour himself by agreeing to play at the bar, and she was prepared to say yes to whatever he'd ask in thanks for helping her friends out. "What's that?"

"So, our female vocalist, Meg? She's stuck in traffic," Ed told her. "We still have time before the actual set, but we need to run through our song list and can't get the full effect if we don't have vocals. It would be a lot easier if we had a stand-in." He raised an eyebrow. "What do you say, Jules?"

She blushed and shook her head. "Are you sure you can't just, I don't know, make do until Meg gets here?"

Ed smiled encouragingly at her. "I seem to remember we were pretty good together back in the day."

"That was _once_ when you, Jenny, and Ryan somehow convinced me to go to that karaoke bar for a night out," Higgins shot back, playfully rolling her eyes.

"Please, Jules?" Ed pressed. "Come on; just one song, and you can quit after if you really hate it that much." The smirk he gave her seemed to say he thought she wouldn't take him up on it. "We're doing some Christmas covers first, since it's that time of year, so you'll know the lyrics already."

Higgins shot a look over her shoulder at where the three men were still gathered around the table, absorbed in their conversation. Briefly, she found herself wondering what they would say if she suddenly took the microphone and started in on whatever tune Ed and his band had lined up first.

And then she paused. Why did she feel so self-conscious all of a sudden? It wasn't like she was singing to a room full of strangers. The only people who'd be listening were her boys and whatever kitchen staff were working in the back. But… she paused. Maybe that's why she felt so self-conscious. She _wasn't _singing for people she didn't know and would probably never see again; she'd be singing for three of the people who meant the most to her and whose approval she'd learnt she actually cared about.

"What do you think, Jules?" Ed asked, reaching out in invitation. "Come on. Help an old pal out?"

She sighed and then nodded, giving him a small smile as she accepted the outstretched hand. "Okay, sure. Why not?"

"That's the spirit!" Ed was grinning happily. "Okay, so we figured we'd start out a little slower before getting into the other stuff. You know 'I'll Be Home for Christmas,' right?"

Higgins nodded as she adjusted the microphone stand Ed had indicated to her. She briefly glanced over at where the others were sitting and saw when Magnum glanced over distractedly, as if just looking for an escape from Rick, who seemed to still be going on about something.

Their eyes met, and she quickly diverted her gaze to the floor in front of her, swallowing at the rush of heat she felt in her cheeks. But it was too late to back out now; she'd promised Ed, and so she just took a deep breath and glanced over at the guitarist.

Ed gave her another encouraging smile, and Higgins wiped her palms on her dress. She could do this. She'd done much more dangerous things in her lifetime than sing a Christmas song in front of people… she'd be fine.

The music started, and, as she waited for her cue, she happened to look back out at the room.

Rick, T.C., and Magnum were sitting forward, attention fully focused on the band—on _her,_ rather—and Higgins swallowed again. They looked fascinated, and she wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing.

And then it was time, and she closed her eyes as she recalled the words. "I'll be home for Christmas; you can plan on me. Please have snow and mistletoe and presents on the tree." She wasn't sure if she wanted to look up, but she still did, somehow bringing herself to glance back at the guys at the table across from her as she continued with the lyrics. "Christmas Eve will find me where the love light gleams."

They were all watching her still, their expressions a combination of what she thought looked like surprise… and pride and admiration. It was almost enough to make her miss the next words, but she managed not to mess up and humiliate herself any more.

"I'll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams."

As she paused to let the music continue, she bit her lip as she looked between the three men. T.C. was watching her with a smile she couldn't quite interpret fully, Magnum was smiling as well but gave her an encouraging thumbs-up when he saw her looking his way, and Rick still looked star-struck but in a more proud way than he'd been when talking about Ed and the band.

Higgins smiled at them in return as the cue came around for her to start on the words again. And this time, with the guys front and center in her attention, she realised what the words of the old song meant to her this year. "I'll be home for Christmas; you can plan on me."

She hadn't had a real home in years, not since she'd lost Richard. And even once she'd found a job and a house in Hawaii, thanks to Robin, it still hadn't been a home.

"Please have snow and mistletoe and presents on the tree."

It wasn't until she'd let the three often-annoying but eventually endearing—yes, even Magnum, she supposed—men that she'd really started to view Oahu as her home. As a place she could see herself living, putting down roots.

"Christmas Eve will find me where the love light gleams."

A place where she was actually looking forward to spending Christmas for the first time in a long, tiring while. Where she actually had people she was looking forward to spending it with.

"I'll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams."

As the last notes of the song faded away, loud applause from the table filled the bar.

Higgins ducked her head and glanced over at Ed, who winked at her.

"Told you," he mouthed.

She blushed and whispered back, "Thanks."

Cheers and whistles from the vicinity of the men's table interrupted whatever Ed was about to say next.

"Whoo, Jules!"

"Yeah!"

"Get it, Higgy baby!"

She shot a quick look in their direction and blushed again, feeling a ridiculous grin spreading across her face at their clapping and yelling.

"Up for another one?" Ed asked her, and she nodded.

By the time Meg finally beat the traffic and rushed through the door of La Mariana, Higgins felt herself relaxed and laughing along with the others as they finished the third song of the list the band had prepared.

The other woman thanked her as Higgins passed off the mic, and Ed leaned over to give her a hug and whisper, "Thanks a million, Juliet."

Higgins nodded and murmured a quick reply before moving back to her seat at the table alongside her friends. She picked up her glass and took a long sip, glancing up as she did so to see the other three all smiling at her. She felt her cheeks warm—out of gratitude now rather than embarrassment—and returned their expressions with a thankful one of her own.

Yes, it had been a long time since she'd been able to say it, but she was home for Christmas, surrounded by her family, and she couldn't ask for anything better.

* * *

_Fin._

_A/N II: __So the reason I've held onto this since November 17 is that I wasn't sure the whole thing worked... It still reads a little clunky to me, but I kind of got to the point where I can't tweak it any more without messing it up, so there you have it. I hope it worked and that you all enjoyed it anyway!_


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